FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

(2 April 2017)

Ezekiel 37:1–14
Romans 8:1–11
John 11:1–45 (46–53) or John 11:17–27, 38–53

Jesus Christ Is the Resurrection and the Life

The illness and death of Lazarus happened “that the Son of God may be glorified through it”
(John 11:4). Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus prompted His arrest and crucifixion, whereby He
would die “for the nation” and gather “into one the children of God who are scattered abroad”
(John 11:51–52). As He called Lazarus from the tomb and commanded others to “unbind him,
and let him go” (John 11:44), Jesus also calls us and releases us from the bondage of sin and
death. We would not “submit to God’s law,” nor could we “please God” (Rom. 8:7–8), but “he
condemned sin” in His own flesh so “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled
in us” (Rom. 8:3–4). Now through the Gospel, “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells” in us (Rom. 8:11). His Word breathes His Spirit into our mortal flesh, animating us with
His own life. As His ministers preach according to His divine command, the Lord Jesus calls us
from the grave into the good land that He gives us (Ezek. 37:12, 14).

PALM SUNDAY / SUNDAY OF THE PASSION

(9 April 2017)

Isaiah 50:4–9a
Philippians 2:5–11
John 12:12–19
Matthew 26:1—27:66 or Matthew 27:11–66 or John 12:20–43

Now Is the Hour When the Son of Man Is Glorified

“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming.” He comes in gentle humility, “sitting
on a donkey’s colt,” yet also as the King of Israel “in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13, 15).
His royal glory is faithful obedience and self-sacrificing service “to the point of death, even
death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). The love of God is manifested in the cross and Passion of His Son
for the salvation of sinners. Since He has borne our sins and suffered our death, “God has highly
exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9), and He exalts
us in His resurrection. Our Lord did not hide His face “from disgrace and spitting” (Is. 50:6), but
He trusted His God and Father, who raised Him from death and the grave and exalted Him to His
right hand. This same King Jesus now comes to us in gentle humility in His Supper, where He
feeds us with His body and cleanses and covers us with His blood, so that “after his
resurrection” we also shall rise and enter the holy city (Matt. 27:52–53).
HOLY THURSDAY
(13 April 2017)

Exodus 24:3–11 Exodus 12:1–14

Hebrews 9:11–22 or 1 Corinthians 11:23–32
Matthew 26:17–30 John 13:1–17, 31b–35

Let Us Love One Another, as Christ Jesus Has Loved Us and Loves Us to the End

“The LORD’s Passover” (Ex. 12:11) and “the blood of the covenant” at Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:8)
foreshow the Lord’s Supper. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, now covers us, and we
keep His Supper “as a feast to the LORD” (Ex. 12:14). In Him, we see “the God of Israel” (Ex.
24:10), and yet He does not lay His hand on us to punish us, but from His hand we eat and drink
in peace. As our High Priest, He “entered once for all into the holy places … by means of his
own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). He shed His own blood in order to
“purify our conscience” and bring us before His God and Father “without blemish” (Heb. 9:14).
The holy apostles received this New Testament in His blood from the Lord Jesus “on the night
when he was betrayed,” and they delivered the same to His Church, which we also now receive
in the name and remembrance of Christ (1 Cor. 11:23–26; Matt. 26:26–28). Since He has “loved
his own who were in the world” and He loves us “to the end” (John 13:1), therefore, let us also
“love one another” (John 13:34).

GOOD FRIDAY
(14 April 2017)

Isaiah 52:13—53:12
Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9
John 18:1—19:42 or John 19:17–30

Behold the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World

Jesus, the Lamb of God, is led to the slaughter of His cross as the Sacrifice of Atonement for the
sin of the world. “Despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”
(Is. 53:3), He is the righteous Servant who justifies many by His innocent suffering and death.
He bears our griefs and sorrows; He is wounded for our transgressions; He is crushed for our
iniquities; He suffers our chastisement; “and with his wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:4–5). As the
Son of God, He fulfills the Law for us in human flesh, and so fulfills the Scriptures (John 19:7,
24). In perfect faith and faithfulness, He shares all our weaknesses and temptations, “yet without
sin” (Heb. 4:15). As our merciful High Priest, He brings us to the Father in peace, “makes
intercession for the transgressors” (Is. 53:12) and joins our prayers to His own, so that we are
heard “because of his reverence” (Heb. 5:7). From His cross, He gives us His Spirit (John
19:30), washes us with water from His side and covers us with His blood (John 19:34).
EASTER SUNRISE
(16 April 2017)

Exodus 14:10—15:1
1 Corinthians 15:1–11
John 20:1–18

The Lord Jesus Brings Us Out of Death into Life with His God and Father in Heaven

In Adam, all people die because all people sin. The children of that first gardener have been
driven out of Paradise and return to the dust whence they were taken. But now another Gardener
has come, who has made His bed in the dust of the earth and who, by His rising, restores
Paradise to all the children of men. With His voice of the Gospel, He calls us by name, and He
opens our eyes to behold Him by faith. At His Word, we enter His tomb through Baptism into
His death, so that, just as He is risen, we also “rise from the dead” (John 20:9). Come, then,
“sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously” (Ex. 15:1). He has fought for us against our
enemies, and in His resurrection not one enemy remains. “Fear not,” therefore, but “see the
salvation of the LORD” (Ex. 14:13), which He delivers “as of first importance” by the preaching
of His Gospel (1 Cor. 15:3). Thus we are raised with Christ “in accordance with the Scriptures”
(1 Cor. 15:4), and we stand firm because we “are being saved” (1 Cor. 15:1–2).

EASTER SUNDAY
(16 April 2017)

Acts 10:34–43 or Jeremiah 31:1–6

Colossians 3:1–4
Matthew 28:1–10

The Victory of Christ Crucified Is Given to You in the Preaching of His Resurrection

Every Sunday is the Lord’s day, the day of His resurrection, “after the Sabbath, toward the dawn
of the first day of the week” (Matt. 28:1). In the Divine Service, the Church enters upon the
eternal “eighth day.” The Lord Jesus, “who was crucified,” who “has risen, as he said” (Matt.
28:5–6), is the firstborn from the dead and the firstfruits of the new creation. Because “you have
died” with Him in Holy Baptism, “you have been raised with Christ” and “your life is hidden
with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1, 3). The Lord Jesus has become our God, as surely as He is “the
God of all the clans of Israel,” and we now belong to His people (Jer. 31:1). In this, He “shows
no partiality” (Acts 10:34), but “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins
through his name” (Acts 10:43). As “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
with power” and “raised him on the third day,” He also raises us up and pours out His Spirit
upon us through the Gospel (Acts 10:38, 40).
EASTER EVENING / MONDAY
(16 or 17 April 2017)

Exodus 15:1–18 or Daniel 12:1c–3

Acts 10:34–43 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b–8
Luke 24:13–35 (36–49)

The Passover Lamb of God Is Known in the Breaking of the Bread

The celebration of Easter is a never-ending feast because “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). “Let us therefore celebrate the festival” (1 Cor. 5:8), and let us “sing to
the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously” (Ex. 15:1). He is our strength and our song because
He has become our salvation. “They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised
him on the third day” (Acts 10:39–40). His chosen witnesses, “who ate and drank with him after
he rose from the dead” (Acts 10:41), now preach “forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts
10:43). By this preaching, Jesus draws near and leads us to His holy abode. He opens the
Scriptures to us, and He opens our minds to understand “the things concerning himself” (Luke
24:27). He opens our eyes to recognize His wounds and to know Him “in the breaking of the
bread” (Luke 24:35). At His table, He pours out the Spirit of His Father upon us, so that we shall
be delivered; we shall be awakened from the dust of the earth, not to shame and everlasting
contempt, but “to everlasting life” (Dan. 12:2).

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

(23 April 2017)

Acts 5:29–42
1 Peter 1:3–9
John 20:19–31

Christ Jesus Breathes His Spirit and His Life into Us by the Ministry of the Gospel

The crucified and risen Lord Jesus establishes the ministry of the Gospel in order to bestow His
life-giving Holy Spirit and His peace upon the Church. To those who are called and ordained to
this office, and to those whom they serve in His name, He grants the Holy Absolution of all sins.
By the fruits of His cross, He replaces fear and doubt with peace and joy, and thus gives
“repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). Through the preaching of His sent
ones, He calls us to believe that He “is the Christ, the Son of God,” so that by such faith we
“may have life in his name” (John 20:31). In His resurrection, we have the “living hope” to
which we have been “born again” and by which we are guarded “for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3, 5). Until then, “though you have not seen him, you love
him,” and by the mercies of God “you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible
and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
(30 April 2017)

Acts 2:14a, 36–41

1 Peter 1:17–25
Luke 24:13–35

The Risen Lord Jesus Is with Us in Holy Baptism and in ‘the Breaking of the Bread’

From “before the foundation of the world” until heaven and earth pass away, “the word of the
Lord remains forever” (1 Peter 1:20, 25). This “living and abiding word of God” is the
preaching of Christ Jesus, namely that God “raised him from the dead and gave him glory” (1
Peter 1:21, 23). By this living word, we “have been born again” to eternal life (1 Peter 1:23) and
ransomed from our sinful and mortal life “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19).
This living word also calls us to repentance, to dying and rising in Holy Baptism “in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). In this, we receive the Holy Spirit “for
you and for your children and for all who are far off” (Acts 2:39). Through the preaching of His
cross and resurrection, Jesus draws near to bring us “into his glory” (Luke 24:26). As He opens
the Scriptures, He opens our minds to comprehend “the things concerning himself” (Luke
24:27), and He brings us to know Him “in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35).